§ Ms KinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken by Her Majesty's Government during their presidency of the EU to support the United Nations peace plan for Western Sahara. [39950]
§ Mr. FatchettAt every available opportunity we continue to urge Morocco and Polisario, and to a lesser extent Mauritania and Algeria, to co-operate with MINURSO. We are in regular contact with the Moroccan Embassy and Polisario office in London and with the Moroccan Government in Rabat.
We believe our role, and that of the EU, should be to support the work of the United Nations, where our seat on the Security Council, and our position as co-ordinators of the Friends of Western Sahara Group, enabled us to play a central role in the negotiations over the extension of MINURSO's mandate to 20 July.
I held talks with the new UN Special Representative to the Western Sahara, Mr. Charles Dunbar when he visited London on 19 February on his way to the territory. I underlined our continued support for the Secretary General, Mr. Baker, and Mr. Dunbar, and our readiness to assist.
We were instrumental in altering EU policy on visits to the Western Sahara so that Ambassadors and senior officials can visit the territory, whereas beforehand visits had been restricted to junior staff.
Foreign Office officials visited Laayoune in January and March. As well as bringing us up to speed on developments and establishing an important visible presence, they were able to support MINURSO on the spot and provide a full report for the EU on developments there.
Officials propose visiting Tindouf, Algeria, in June, as part of our next visit to the territory. Our Ambassador to Rabat is in northern Mauritania at the present time.